Under the leadership of conductor Erhard Zeh the four dozen singers had taken on an ambitious program: presenting on the one hand the emotional depth and occasional social criticism of German Lyrics and on the other hand the catchy melodies of lightweight Swedish Pop, which captivates more by vocal performance than content. Bernd Vollmer guided listeners through the program with charm, but couldn't resist a gentle sideswipe at the pop hit "Super Trouper": Who else but ABBA could conquer the charts with a song about giant stagelights?
Performing hit songs made popular by top Swedish music stars was risky as well as challenging since so many things could have gone wrong. Without the outstanding work of the female voices in the choir this part of the program might not have succeeded. Listening to "The Winner Takes It All" it was easy to imagine how intensive the preparation for this concert must have been. Here one could feel a touch of the choir’s uncertainty, but it’s hardly a criticism considering the new musical territory into which conductor Erhard Zeh had led the choir at this Saturday evening.
All in all, the Sängerbund delighted the visitors on this evening with a fantastic performance. After a long standing ovation of applause they responded with encores as well.
The mixed choir again invited stunning guest musicians to add to the success of the evening. The Henry Uebel-Trio with Henry Uebel at the piano, Conny Hossfeld as bassist, and Enzo Bellini on percussion were often accompanied by the excellent guitarist Jürgen Thieß. And of course there was the sensational Sandy Williams, the New York professional who once toured extensively with the Broadway musical "Hair" and is now a long time German resident, to carry the audience into new tonal worlds.
Too bad that such an evening with the Sängerbund once again came to an end much too early!
|
)